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Closing Thought–22Sep17

We all get tongue tied at times and mispronounce a word or two……but when the president does it then it becomes a a major story…..at least for awhile….

We all remember his new word for the times that he posted on Twitter….”Covete”….seems he has gone and done it again this time the country he was speaking about, Nambia, does not exist…..

The nation that seems to be showing up in most headlines Thursday is Nambia, mainly because it doesn’t actually exist. In a speech to African leaders Wednesday, President Trump referred to “Nambia” not once but twice, first in his general introduction and then later when he mentioned that “Nambia’s health system is increasingly self-sufficient.” As the BBC notes, that led to plenty of online jokes, along with people wondering whether he meant Gambia, Zambia, or Namibia. Turns out, it was the latter. Coverage:

For the record: The official White House transcript of the speech made the correction without mention of the mispronunciation. (You can hear for yourself in this video.) But that hasn’t slowed a barrage of coverage making light of the president’s mistake.

One example: At CNN, Anderson Cooper referred to Nambia as a “magical land far, far away” in his recap.

Namibia 101: The gaffe has led to a slew of civics-type primers about Namibia. Time, for instance, notes the tiny nation of fewer than 2.5 million people is relatively young, having achieved its independence in 1990. Among the factoids it highlights: Namibia is a big producer of diamonds and it has environmental protection written into its constitution.

Sliver lining: “If Trump’s blunder was worth anything, it was this: The world now knows about Namibia,” writes Luis Gomez at the San Diego Union-Tribune. He notes that Namibia also is one of the top global producers of uranium.

The main point: The gist of Trump’s speech was to tout the region’s economic potential (he said he has friends who go there “trying to get rich”), and a member of the African advocacy group ONE praised the intent. “I know ‘Nambia’ will be the narrative that comes from those remarks, but POTUS is right on this: Africa has tremendous business potential,” tweeted rep Ian Koski.

Namibia’s reaction: Officially, nada. No major government official, including President Hage Geingob, who was present, has said anything publicly about the mistake. But the Washington Post reports that Namibians themselves sound a little miffed and are mocking Trump, like so.

To be fair, it he was sticking to the prepared speech then it was more than likely that the err was made by a speech writer and Trump just delivered the faux paux…..I am sure that it was an honest mistake but the country being a fractured as it is this just made a good story….at least for a day.

I said I’d make it by to see today’s closing thought, so, here I am…. It seems apropos, if not fully ironic, my only exposure to the news this week (ie, this post…) is an example of the ineptitude of the latest potus, (no caps on purpose…. Caps indicate relevant importance, & this administration, and its ostensible ‘leader’, offer no such evidence of either competence, or relevance…). It also points up the idiocy of the media coverage, pouring their complete attention onto what amounts to sheer bozoid tendencies, making Shakespeare relevant again, to wit: ‘much ado over nothing’….

More evidence of the florid insanity prevalent in the world stage, I’d say, & more evidence my hiatus from paying it the slightest attention is the only sane way to go….